Peristeri shocks Panathinaikos in Basket League
Peristeri produced the upset of the season in the Basket League, ending the unbeaten run of Panathinaikos on Sunday, and playing behind closed doors at its home court too.
The team of former Panathinaikos coach Argyris Pedoulakis made the most of the absence of Nick Calathes, whom coach Rick Pitino chose to rest, to win 80-72 and inflict the Greens’ first loss after 20 wins in the league.
The winners had Steven Gray score 27 points and Ben Bentil add another 21 in this historic triumph.
Although the result has no bearing on Panathinaikos’s status as the top team of the regular season, it maintains Peristeri’s chances for a top-four finish.
Peristeri lies joint third along with Promitheas, that struggled to beat Ifaistos Limnou 73-68 in Patra, and PAOK, that edged out Lavrio 99-88 on Saturday.
Second-placed AEK worked hard to defeat Aris 81-73, while Olympiakos (that has suffered a deduction of 12 points in total) trounced bottom team Rethymno 92-58 away on Monday.
Holargos took another step to a play-off spot with its 73-66 result over Kymi, but most exciting game of the weekend was on Rhodes, where Panionios beat host Kolossos 109-106 in overtime to ensure it stays up.
